It is mindblowing to know that some of the cities present cities in the world today have been around for thousand of years. Here are the ten oldest continually inhabited cities in the world.
1. Jericho, Palestine – 5000 BCE
The city of Jericho is in the West Bank in the Middle East. While its exact founding is unknown, Jericho is believed to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. The city was mentioned in the Bible several times, most notably as being the first place the Israelites attacked after crossing the Jordan River. Today, Jericho is in the West Bank Palestinian territory.
2. Argos, Greece – 5000 BCE
Argos is considered one of the world’s oldest cities and has been continuously lived in since around 5000 BCE. Today, visitors to this Greek town will find many interesting ruins to explore, notably the Greek theatre and Roman baths.
3. Byblos, Lebanon – 5000 BCE
Byblos, also known as modern-day Jbail, is a port city in present-day 25 miles (40 km) from Beirut in Lebanon that has been continuously inhabited for more than 7,000 years. The city became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1984.
4. Athens, Greece – 4000 BCE
Athens is Greece’s capital and its largest city. It is known as the birthplace of Western civilization and democracy. People have lived in the city of Athens for at least 7,000 years.
Ancient Athens’ golden age was home to history’s greatest thinkers, such as Socrates, Aristotle, and Hippocrates. Present-day Athens has more than 3 million inhabitants.
5. Susa/Shush, Iran – 4200 BCE
Susa began as a small settlement around 7000 BCE and became an urban centre around 4200 BCE. Susa is a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its storied history and cultural significance.
6. Gaziantep, Turkey – 3650 BCE
Gaziantep, also known as Antep, is located in southern Turkey near the Syrian border. The city is one of the world’s oldest cities, with its earliest inhabitants settling in the area in 3650 BCE.
7. Luxor, Egypt – 3200 BCE
Luxor has been inhabited since about 3200 BCE. It was ruled by a few important figures in history, such as Tutankhamen, Ramses II and Ramses III. The ancient ruins of Thebes became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.
8. Rayy, Iran – 3000 BCE
Ray is located within the Greater Tehran metropolitan area in Iran. The city, also known as Rey, has evidence of inhabitants that date back around 8,000 years and may have been continuously occupied for 5,000 or 6,000 years.
9. Beirut, Lebanon – 3000 BCE
Beirut is the cultural, administrative, and economic capital of Lebanon. This city dates back some 5,000 years. Beirut was even mentioned in letters to the Egyptian ruler as far back as 1400 BCE.
10. Damascus, Syria – 3000 BCE
Some sources cite Damascus as the world’s oldest inhabited city, with settlers living in the area as early as 10,000 BCE, but this fact is heavily debated. However, archaeologists have determined through excavations that people first inhabited the area sometime between 10,000 and 8000 BCE.
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